2 days ago
Breaking down resurfaced rumors that Harvey Milk was a pedophile
In early June 2025, also known as Pride Month, rumors circulated that Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, was a ped*ph*le. The claim spread online as reported U.S. Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth had ordered the U.S. Navy to rename one of its ships that bore the name "Harvey Milk."
For example, an X user relayed the rumor (archived):
As of this writing, the post had gained nearly 50,000 views and 2,100 likes. The claim further appeared on several other X posts, one of which sought to support its assertion by recounting a relationship Milk, then 33 years old, had started with Jack Galen McKinley, who was 16 years old at the time, in "true groomer fashion" (archived):
In 2021, the U.S. Navy sought to honor Milk by christening a ship in his name. Milk served in the Navy for four years. He resigned in 1955 following a psychiatric examination that identified him as a homosexual person rather than being court-martialed.
Hegseth's order revived old rumors that the gay rights leader, who was assassinated in 1978, was a ped*ph*le. Snopes found an instance of the claim in 2011, reportedly shared by a group known as SaveCalifornia, which attacked a successful statewide initiative to celebrate Milk's legacy in schools. The SaveCalifornia website also posted about "Harvey Milk Day" in California's public schools in 2019, calling for an end to the commemoration for the sake of protecting children. On the page, a three-minute YouTube video appeared calling Milk a "predator of teens."
It is true that in 1964, Milk, then 33 years old, entered a relationship with Galen McKinley, who was 16 years old, according to the Milk biography, "Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death." The relationship started in New York City.
Snopes reached out to the New York State Library to confirm what the age of consent was in the state and city that year and we will update this report should they respond.
Later, the pair spent time in California, where the age of consent has been 18 years old since at least 1920. Their California sojourn occurred around 1969, when Galen McKinley was 23 years old. The two remained a couple until at least 1970 and they stayed in touch for years after that.
Absent a clear age of consent in the state of New York, however, Snopes examined psychiatric criteria to determine whether Milk would be considered a ped*ph*le for entering into a relationship with Galen McKinley. Pedophilia is not a legal term but a clinical one. In fact, the American Psychological Association (APA) treats pedophilia as a mental disorder, defining it as "a paraphilia in which sexual acts or fantasies involving prepubertal children are the persistently preferred or exclusive method of achieving sexual excitement." Prepubertal children can be as old as 11 years old. In other words, a 16-year-old boy is not prepubertal. The APA and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders have yet to define the attraction to children older than 11 years of age.
For example, while California has established the age of consent at 18, it also includes a statute according to which "a person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act, including any of the acts constituting other crimes provided for in Part 1, upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child who is under the age of 14 years, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person or the child, is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years."
In other words, the law of the state makes a distinction between the age of consent and sexual crimes committed against children younger than 14 years old.
In sum, while it is possible Milk's relationship with Galen McKinley may have violated the laws of consent in the state of New York in 1964, it does not appear that modern psychological standards would deem him a ped*ph*le. We will update this report when we can determine what the age of consent was in the state at the time the relationship took place.
"A Complete Genealogy and Family History Resource Center." 2025, Accessed 4 June 2025..
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Blanchard, Ray, et al. "Pedophilia, Hebephilia, and the DSM-V." Archives of Sexual Behavior, vol. 38, no. 3, Aug. 2008, pp. 335–50, Accessed 4 June 2025.
"Children and Youth in History | Age of Consent Laws [Table]." 2021, Accessed 4 June 2025.
Kratz, Jessie. "Harvey Milk: Veteran." Pieces of History, 28 June 2023, Accessed 4 June 2025.
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Mehta, Kalika. "US Navy to Rename Ship Named after Gay Activist Harvey Milk." Deutsche Welle, 3 June 2025, Accessed 4 June 2025.
Milk, Harvey. "Jewish Lives." Jewish Lives, 2024, Accessed 4 June 2025.
"Pedophilia | APA Dictionary of Psychology." Accessed 4 June 2025.
Writers, Staff. "Milk Pedophile Claim." Star Observer, 31 May 2011, Accessed 4 June 2025.
